Not sure which version they are pushing, but all things considered I think I'd rather stay with my current 301.42 drivers.
Anyone with the Important updates set to auto install will have a (possibly) new driver...

Windows Update installed this on my pc as part of a number of important updates. Since driver updates are usually optional I closed Boinc, let the update run, and restarted. After the restart, I still have the nVidia 306.97 driver so nothing changed and Boinc runs fine.

The background for some of the changes after 301 series relate to some earlier MS critical security updates back in June/July. In that particular context the term 'security' relates to reliability concerns tied to synchronisation, and ongoing moves to 'polish' WDDM so that multiple applications share the device better. Those June/July updates plugged some font/texture cache synchronisation issues, and more recent drivers are mostly the corresponding driver level changes and some other minor fixes.

While in a lot of cases 'don't fix what ain't broken' is a reasonable basis to work from, WDDM is still in an ongoing process of refinement. Under those circumstances I advise for newer nVidia cards & OSes, that for the time being following with latest WHQL releases is preferable. In effect, if those preceeding critical updates were applied between several months ago & now, and older drivers are used, something IS 'broken' by way of a technology mismatch (sometimes evidenced by games in particular).

Jason"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change."
Charles Darwin

Last time I allowed Windoze to update my video driver it messed everything up so well it took a few days to sort out the problems.
Guess what? - I don't trust Windoze hardware updates any longerBob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Never never ever never ever ever allow windows to "update" any driver. For one, they don't uninstall drivers. the new drivers are just slapped over the top of the old ones. As we already know on this forums that is a big nonoIn a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face.
Diogenes Of Sinope

That ****ing windoze system wrecker is more persistent than a virus - it will not die, and keeps offering me the update I've reject all too often today.

Stand by for a load of wrecked results in the next few days, along folks moaning about PCs that aren't working properly.Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Rob, I specifically selected to 'hide' the nVida update offered by M$. It hasn't appeared since.

I'm also re-reading what Jason posted, since at first blush, it almost sounded like he sorta advocated updating under certain circumstances.

Humm...

Thanks - hiding appears to have worked, but its a real pain having to remember to hide the windoze hardware degrades.Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

The background for some of the changes after 301 series relate to some earlier MS critical security updates back in June/July. In that particular context the term 'security' relates to reliability concerns tied to synchronisation, and ongoing moves to 'polish' WDDM so that multiple applications share the device better. Those June/July updates plugged some font/texture cache synchronisation issues, and more recent drivers are mostly the corresponding driver level changes and some other minor fixes.

While in a lot of cases 'don't fix what ain't broken' is a reasonable basis to work from, WDDM is still in an ongoing process of refinement. Under those circumstances I advise for newer nVidia cards & OSes, that for the time being following with latest WHQL releases is preferable. In effect, if those preceeding critical updates were applied between several months ago & now, and older drivers are used, something IS 'broken' by way of a technology mismatch (sometimes evidenced by games in particular).

Jason

Interesting. On my oldest Win7 box (2901600), not only am I being urged to upgrade the 9800GTX+ driver beyond the current 301.42, I'm also being offered:

I installed, but the restart wasn't clean - lots of services wouldn't start, including networking and graphics drivers (which are a bit fundamental). It seems to be becoming a regular problem (on two machines) - I'm getting quite adept with system restore. All running clean now, I'll try again - perhaps over the weekend.

I installed, but the restart wasn't clean - lots of services wouldn't start, including networking and graphics drivers (which are a bit fundamental). It seems to be becoming a regular problem (on two machines) - I'm getting quite adept with system restore. All running clean now, I'll try again - perhaps over the weekend.

I installed, but the restart wasn't clean - lots of services wouldn't start, including networking and graphics drivers (which are a bit fundamental). It seems to be becoming a regular problem (on two machines) - I'm getting quite adept with system restore. All running clean now, I'll try again - perhaps over the weekend.

I installed them with no problems although I took the time to make sure nothing else was running when I did it and I installed them one at a time, first the kernel patch, rebooted, then the user patch and rebooted. Nothing ill to report afterwards.

Never never ever never ever ever allow windows to "update" any driver. For one, they don't uninstall drivers. the new drivers are just slapped over the top of the old ones. As we already know on this forums that is a big nono

I agree with this post. I learned a long long time ago never let microsoft upgrade your graphics card drivers! As well as not uninstalling the old drivers it can lead to a serious crash. Always go to nVidia or ATI for driver updates Delta-V